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Seven Islands State Birding Park

5.0 (18 reviews)

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Justin H.

Very nice state park. They have a beautiful entrance with a barn, garden and information about birds. There is a large "nest" outside the barn with a seesaw that has leverage to allow a small child to push up an adult. Good, clean bathrooms too. As far as the trails, this is different than your more mountainous parks. It is rolling hills in the valley below the Smokies. So, it is fairly easy. But, it has the benefit of being able to see the mountain vistas in the distance (instead of being in them). That's enjoyable in itself. Also, this park is teeming with wildlife. I saw deer, a wild turkey, a huge black snake, and many birds. Beautiful and serene place. Highly recommended for a short hike. Only 30 minutes outside of Knoxville.

Brandi H.

I generally don't do much research until after we visit the park because I don't want to annoy my family with spouting out too much dry information, so as we drove up, we were all wondering: "What IS a birding park?" Well, in case you were wondering, too, a birding park seems to be a park with lush overgrowth of lush vegetation, combined with lake water, which makes this land a perfect spot for animals- especially birds. There's more than seven miles of hiking, but because of the tons of flowers and plants, I was concerned we hadn't brought enough bug spray, so we stuck to the paved path, which was 1.25 miles from one end to the other, and back. The property itself is 400 acres outside of Knoxville, and was established in 2002. You can fish here, because there's 50 different species of fish. And, of course, there's bird watching! Apparently, over 200 species of bird have been spotted here. As we were walking back to the car, about halfway up the paved path, I heard my mom gasp, and I turned to see a deer, deathly quiet, its face surrounded by flowers, staring at me- his face about four feet from mine. I very slowly begin to move my hand to reach for my phone in my pocket, and the two inches of movement on my part spooked him and he turned and lept into the wild. It was an AMAZING moment.

Nest
Melanie M.

Beautiful park with knowledgeable rangers that offer a variety of fun and educational activities throughout the year.

Daniel Z.

Last day in Tennessee thought we'd try a milder hike than those we did in the Smokies. Beautiful hike and mowed paths partially along the river and some in the trees. We saw more wildlife here than we did in the Smokies. Even had a couple king snakes pop out at us but one had an animal in its mouth so...Definitely recommend giving this place a shot for hiking when you want mainly mileage and not so much elevation.

Photo of bridge
Pierre R.

Great walking, running, hiking trail to watch nature and get exercise. Has a great long bridge to cross river to unpaved trail. Had great time walking my 2 dogs. Extremely clean and well maintained. 2nd favorite trail so far in Eastern Tennessee area, just behind Gatlinburg Nature Trail. Only reason, is that there is more sunlight on this trail and less tree shading the trail.

Beautiful place to visit and explore! It's now a state park but still free to visit and plenty of free parking. You can bring your dog too.
Meredith L.

Seven Islands is such a wonderful place to visit to explore the beautiful views of the Smoky Mountains in the distance and the nearby rolling hills next to the majestic French Broad River. It's located about 15 minutes away from downtown Knoxville and it's definitely worth the drive out there to check it out. Parking is free and ample. It's free to enter the park and you can bring your dog too. Start your trek by parking in the gravel lots and then checking out the trail maps to determine which trail you want to try. All of the trails are great choices for any type of hiker. Before starting your hike, check out the barn at the end of the parking area. It contains a lot of great information about the park including the different types of birds that you might see including bald eagles perched on top of the trees across the river.

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Wonderful place for an non-stressful hike. Very scenic. The addition of a bridge over to one of the neighboring islands is nice!

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Review Highlights - Seven Islands State Birding Park

If you're in the area, and you like bird watching, this place is a must see.

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Waynesville Parks & Recreation - Awesome playground!

Waynesville Parks & Recreation

4.0(11 reviews)
50.7 mi

Hello, I hope that this will be taken seriously, in hopes that this never happens to anyone else…read more Since Helene destroyed our local Canton park we wanted to give the Waynesville Recreation pool. I called the day prior to get all the information I could gather, checked the website since we have not been in over a decade. The receptionist gave me all the information, dates, times, pricing, and and temperature of the pool. I asked if there was still a kiddy pool working with buckets, slides, splash area etc. and I was told yes. The next day we were very excited and happily payed our fee to enter.As we walked passed the 1st life guard posted at the shallow end of the deep pool we smiled and found a spot near the slide as we knew that was what our son was going to be the most excited about. We got our son in his swim vest for safety and goggles and off he went down the slide. All of a sudden I see a young blonde lifeguard running around the Side of the slide saying "NO NO NO!". My husband and I smiled and said "Its ok we are right here and he's safe (Thinking she was worried he was alone since we didn't even see her from where she was sitting)". My son was already coming down the slide when she was yelling at him, (He's autistic and doesn't always understand things or respond to others well). He made it down no problem and was swimming to get out when she said "we do not allow swim vest or life jackets on the slide!" I asked "why?" And she responded with "because of the bolts on the slide they can get hung up and get hurt." I Replied " so there are bolts sticking out on a toddlers waterslide? I think you should be more concerned with that cutting and hurting someone if thats the case, not be concerned with a protective swimming vest." She replied "Well he's to small to ride" I was confused since I called asked and check the website and the slide is on the kiddie pool. I said "ok" as my husband is trying to regulate our son and explain things to him but he just wants to slide. By this point there are only 2 life guards for both pools and my son won't stop trying to slide. I carry him over to her hoping if he hears it from someone else that he's not allowed it will help. It did not! I then am very upset that was the whole reason for coming and anyone with autistic children or any kids understand if you tell them something fun your going to do but then have to tell them they can not its never fun. I ask the girl if I can sign a waiver or anything to allow him to slide, she says"no" I ask can he take of his vest and slide and ill be at the bottom to help catch him if he needs it ( He's a very good swimmer for his age) to which she responded "parents are not allowed to stand at the bottom and help there child". I was blown away buy this since we have been going to canton pool, and Dollywood splash country where kids can wear the life jackets, swim vest, or floats on any slide and parents were always at the bottom to help catch them as well since its all about safety when around water! Well, expect here at Waynesville rec. center. I was upset by this point and asked her what and where are these rules since I was not informed.?" She says "its on the back of the slide". Again I was upset and said " well that a horrible place for rules against a back wall on a slide that not every sees until your back here, also I was not told this and just so you know for the future maybe you all could post your rules on the website and tell them when they call so this doesn't happen to other special needs family and regular families to! I could tell she was uncomfortable so I simply asked what would happen if he did go down the slide (as he can be a runner)? She said " I would ask you to leave" I said "ok" and walked away. So for reference and refresh you can call and check the website where these rules are NOT posted or come in pay inside change enter at the opposite side of the pool area walk always to the back wall behind the side, and on the back said you see this weird outdated slide rules. By this time I was wondering why no one was on the slide and its because you have to be 48 inch tall but not over a certain weight, no parents are allowed on the slide, parents cannot catch kids at the bottom, and no life jackets or vest are allowed. These rules do the opposite of keeping kids in the kiddie pool safe. And again you can go to canton pool, Dollywood splash country or many other water parks or pools and they encourage you to put vests on your child and stay close to your child in water. By this point there are a good amount of ;little kids in the kiddie pool I would say about 10 to 15 and more kids in the bigger pool about 10 as well and only 2 life guards. I'm sorry but I'm not going to rely on a lifeguard to see everything in a pool. But none the less we kept trying to explain it to our son and play in the kiddie pool and enjoy the best we can. Our son was having a melt down and other parents in the pool understood what was happe

We just moved to the area and took a tour of the recreation center here. We will be joining the gym…read moreafter Covid issues get better. They have the main staples of indoor pool, workout equipment, racket ball courts. It clean and people are very friendly. We use the outdoor grounds a lot. Our main use is the dog park. There is a small dog park and a large dog park. We are in the small dog area. The disc golf court runs past the dog areas which is cool. There is a great skateboard park that lots of young people use, even on bikes. Lots of paved pathways. I love that the pathways attract older and young people. And, the path runs alongside The bold creek. It is more like a small river. It is filled with trout should you want to fish. Definitely a major asset to our town!

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Waynesville Parks & Recreation - Playing at Waynesville park!!!

Playing at Waynesville park!!!

Waynesville Parks & Recreation
Waynesville Parks & Recreation - Creek by skate park

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Creek by skate park

Seven Islands State Birding Park - hiking - Updated May 2026

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